Zack Is that you?
by Sharingan300
Summary: Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE have all settled down after the defeat of Sephiroth. They all led peacefull lives. Until a strange monster attacks Cloud and states that he is the carrier of a potential threat. What did he mean? In the middle of all this,
1. Alternative self!

Zack...is that you?

A year has passed since AVALANCHE saved the planet from Sephiroth and Meteor.  
Midgar was completely abandoned. No one even bothered to destroy the large city,  
or take it apart piece by piece. They just left it there.  
The rest of the world was recovering at a fast rate.

Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, Gold Saucer, Wutai, and the growing Corel, all competed against each other for power. The members of AVALANCHE who resided in these cities didn´t do anything political. The heroes of Earth all settled down, living life to it´s fullest.

AVALANCHE were chosen as heroes long before they even embarked on their quest to stop Sephiroth. And little do they know, their elite skills are soon to be needed once again...

Chapter 1: Alternative self

Cloud Strife was standing on the beach of Costa Del Sol.  
A soft breeze blew across his face, relaxing him. He thought he smelled something strange for a second, and was slightly unnerved by it. But, the smell vanished the next second, along with the uneasy feeling. The blonde man relaxed as the feeling of discomfort went away. Cloud was content in just feeling the soft breeze on his face, and seeing the sun rise and set. Those things proved what he and his friends had accomplished a year ago.  
He treasured them all. His friends. Especially one.  
Cloud closed his eyes and smiled. He could picture her face perfectly behind his closed eyes.  
(She´s so beautiful. No...she´s breathtaking! I can´t believe I nevereventold herthat back in Nibelheim.  
Tifa Lockheart...yep, she has definetly "locked" my heart.) Cloud thought.  
Just then, soft footsteps in the sand made him turn. His mouth formed into a smile once again.  
A young woman came and stopped before him.

"Hey...what are you up to?" She asked.

Cloud smiled and looked out over the ocean.

"Just enjoying the view..." Cloud said.

(Yeah right! You´d rather look at her and you know it!) A voice in the back of his head said.  
Cloud smiled and nodded to himself. (You are...so right.) Cloud thought.  
The brunette stepped up beside him and looked out over the ocean as well.

"Hey...Tifa?" Cloud mumbled.

Tifa turned to him slightly.

"Yeah? What´s up?" Tifa asked.

Cloud looked at her.

"You´ve been living with Barret in Corel since Holy destroyed Meteor, right?" Cloud said.

Tifa looked unsure as what to make of this. But the fact that Cloud was smiling calmed her.

"Yeah, that´s right. Why?" Tifa confirmed.

Cloud closed his eyes and let the ocean breeze ruffle his hair before opening them again.

"I´ve been living in the villa here in Costa Del Sol for the last few months and that has been  
really nice. But...it gets kinda lonely at times..." Cloud mumbled.

Tifa slowly processed the information, then her eyes widened. Could he? Was he?

Cloud noticed her reaction, and his smile fell to a grin. He was beginning to feel nervous.

"I was just thinking...would you...wanna live with me? In the villa?" Cloud said the last two sentences under  
his breath.

Tifa was surprised at this. True, she had half expected it, but she had never thought that she was ever  
going to hear it with her own ears!  
Tifa was at a loss of words at first, but she managed to recover in a few uneasy seconds.

"Cloud..." Tifa smiled. "Yeah...sure...I mean, yes! Yeah, sure I will!" Tifa said.

"Really? I mean, well, you don´t have to do it if you don´t want to." Cloud said, happiness all too evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I want to!" Tifa said with equal happiness.

"Great!" Cloud resonated.

(Phew! I never thought she would say yes! This is going to be great!) Cloud thought.

Tifa beamed with happiness as she gazed into Cloud´s blue eyes.

(He, he actually asked me to come live with him! This is too good to be true!) Tifa thought.

They were both gazing deeply into each other´s eyes now, subconciously leaning more and more  
forward. Cloud suddenly snapped out of it and backed off. This made Tifa snap out of it too.  
They both looked away, blushing madly.

"Well...I ahh...think that´s great!" Cloud said, trying to cover up.

"Yes...errr...Yeah!" Tifa said, trying to cover up for herself as well.

Cloud racked his brain, desperately trying to think of something to say.

"Yo! Tifa! Get your cute little ass in gear! We´re leaving!"

Cloud thanked his lucky star as he saw Cid standing a distance away, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as  
usual. Cid and the other AVALANCHE members had come to visit Cloud yesterday, and were leaving today.  
Cloud and Tifa nodded to each other.

"I guess that´s my cue." Tifa said.

Cloud agreed.

Together, they followed Cid back to the Highwind.

Standing outside the Highwind, Cloud and Tifa faced each other again.

"So...you´re leaving huh?" Cloud asked.

Tifa nodded, her cheeks colouring from the memory of what almost happened earlier.

"Yeah..." Was all she managed to say.

Cloud smiled.

"So, have you changed your mind about what I said earlier?" Cloud asked.

Tifa blushed.

"N, no of course not! It´s going to be great, living with you!" Tifa answered.

When she said that, the young man standing beside her did something she never would have expected.  
Cloud smiled. A truly happy and content smile. These smiles were very rare nowadays.  
Tifa had experienced Cloud´s rare smiles often enough to be able to hide her amazement.  
She smiled warmly back at him.

As the Highwind disappeared in the distance, Cloud sighed. For some reason, he felt lonely  
whenever Tifa wasn´t there. He turned on his heels and walked back to Costa Del Sol.  
(Tifa...) Cloud thought. His heart slowed down, beating harder for each breath.  
Cloud didn´t notice this at first. It wasn´t untill he stumbled and fell to his knees that he felt it.

"W, what´s happening?" Cloud panted, sweat trickled down his temples.

A sharp pain was coming from his chest and he struggled to breathe.  
His SOLDIER enhanced hearing caught the sound of approaching footsteps.  
He struggled and turned his head. A skinny man stood beside him, smiling wickedly.  
He had black hair and was rather tall. But what unnerved Cloud about this man was his ghostly white skin.  
The man looked down at him, grinning even wider.

"What´s happening, you ask? Nothing. Nothing more than what´s supposed to happen." The man said.

Cloud growled. He fought himself into a kneeling position and faced the man.

"What do you want with me?" Cloud demanded.

He wasn´t able to draw his sword due to the intense pain that was running through his body.  
The man smirked.

"Nothing. I just want you to die. It´s as simple as that." The man replied with a sickening smile.

Cloud grit his teeth, cursing his immobility.

"I put a special powder on you earlier. That´s what´s causing your current pain. I guess you wanted to know

that before...you..._DIE!_"

Cloud´s eyes widened. The man before him suddenly turned completely green, then he started transforming.  
His body grew and took the shape of something clearly inhuman. The transformation was complete in a few seconds.  
Cloud stared in both wonder and horror at the beast before him. It looked like a huge humanoid snake with arms.  
The snake hissed at him, looking down at him with yellow eyes.

"_I want you to die..._" The snake hissed.

Cloud felt his body fighting the powder in his blood, it wast going very well though. He could tell because  
of the frequent pangs of pain. (The Jenova cells in me should be able to destroy the powder since they can  
regenerate. But, at this pace, that´s going to take a few minutes. Minutes that I don´t have.) Cloud thought.

"What do you want from me you freak? What have I done to you?" Cloud yelled, trying to buy time.

The snake quietly hissed, then it decided to answer.

"_I want you to die...because you are the carrier of something that could prove to be a threat..._" The snake hissed.

This didn´t help Cloud very much. The snake loomed over him like the shadow of death.  
It revealed it´s fangs and slithered closer to him.  
Cloud cursed his immobility for the umptenth time as the snake advanced on him. The snake reached  
down it´s hands and grabbed Cloud. It lifted him to it´s face and opened it´s huge mouth, revealing long, sharp fangs.  
Cloud grit his teeth and growled. (I am NOT going to die here today! Not a chance!) Cloud thought.  
He clenched his eyes shut and reached deep inside of himself.  
The snake dove in for the kill when a loud crack was heard, followed by a flash.

"_AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH_!" The snake hollered in pain.

Cloud landed rather hard. He grinned at the snake, panting. (It looks like the Bolt3 spell did the trick!)  
Cloud thought. He slowly sat up again, his eyes widening as he did so.  
(I can move! Arrgh! I can move alright, but not a whole lot. For the first time in my life I wish that I had  
more Jenova cells in me. If I had, then I would have chopped that snake´s head off by now!) Cloud thought.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. The snake shrieked in pain and reeled back. It´s yellow eyes searched  
for it´s attacker. It found him instantly. Standing a distance away, was a tall silouette with a red cape  
flowing around his body. His crimson eyes matched his raven black hair. He was holding a shotgun-like  
weapon that looked like it could reach all the way from his chest down to his feet.  
Cloud bit back some of the pain and turned around. A wave of relief washed over him.

"Vincent!" Cloud called out.

Indeed it was Vincent. The ex-turk lowered his weapon and nodded a greeting.  
A loud roar from above made everyone turn to the sky except Vincent.  
Descending downvards, was the Highwind! Never before in his life, had Cloud been so relieved to see  
the big chunk of metal. Cloud grinned. Was he a lucky devil or what?  
A long rope ladder fell down the Highwind´s side, and people started sliding down it.

"Yo! Spike! Need a hand?" Cid yelled as he jumped off the ladder and jogged up to the leader of AVALANCHE.

Cloud smiled, although pained.

"How...how did you guys know...?" Cloud asked.

Cid stopped beside him and lowered the Venus Gospel low to the ground.

"Your PHS." Cid said, eyeing the creature before him.

The rest of AVALANCHE hurried up to them. Tifa sprinted all the way up to Cloud and hugged him hard, earning  
a pained gasp from the blonde young man.

"Thank goodness you´re allright!" Tifa said, true happiness in her voice.

Cloud managed to smile weakly. She released him and stood up, cracking her knuckles threathingly.

"What do you mean, my PHS? I have it right here." Cloud said and stuck his hand into his pocket, only to find nothing.

He looked around for it, spotting it a few feet from the giant snake. Cloud blinked, then realisation dawned on him.

"Of course...the emergency function...I must´ve pressed the button by accident when I fell." Cloud mumbled.

Cid grinned sideways at him.

"Yeah, right spike! I bet you were so afraid you were pissing your pants before you pressed the button!" Cid said.

Cloud grinned.

"Alright snake! Time to say bye bye!" Barret yelled and raised the Missing Score.

"We´ve just had a reunion, and here you come barging in, shooting off your rude mouth! That´s not nice!" Yuffie exclaimed.

She tossed the Conformer between her hands.  
Vincent moved up beside Barret. He raised the Death Penalty to eye level.

"Taste the power of Death Penalty." Vincent wisphered, his cold crimson eyes completely lacked emotion.

"You´ll never get away with this!" Aeris exclaimed, twirling her staff, the Princess Guard, above her head.

"May I see your invitation card? Oh? Don´t have one? Well I´m sorry. You´re not wellcome here then!" Nanaki growled, baring his fangs.

"Come on then! I´ll teach you the sharpness of Venus Gospel!" Cid barked.

"And I, will make you wish that you were never born!" Tifa said, cracking her knuckles.

She adjusted the Premium Heart and frowned.  
The snake hissed quietly, then it slammed it´s tail into the ground. Several dark silouettes emerged from the ground  
and took the forms of seven monsters with four arms each!

"What the flying hell?" Cid swore.

Cloud tried to stand, or at least draw his sword, but a sharp pang of pain wouldn´t let him.  
Tifa looked down at him.

"Cloud? What´s wrong? Why aren´t you getting up?" Tifa asked.

Cloud growled at the snake.

"That damned snake sprinkled some powder onto me earlier! Must have been when we were standing on the beach!  
Whatever powder he put on me, is preventing my movements!" Cloud growled.

Tifa´s eyes widened, then she turned back to the snake.

"LET´S GET HIM!" Cid barked loudly.

Everyone charged the snake, but the monsters he had summoned got in their way!  
Everyone soon found themselves fighting one-on-one with the monsters!

Their quest to stop Sephiroth a few months earlier had made them all into fighting experts.  
Despite this, they were barely holding their own!  
Tifa and Aeris tried to stay close to Cloud in order to protect him, but it was very hard.  
The monsters they were fighting were in a league of their own.  
Speaking of Cloud, the leader of AVALANCHE was doing everything in his power to help his friends. But he wasn´t succeeding in moving his body at all. The pain was so intense every time he moved, he thought someone pierced his chest with a burning sword over and over and over again!  
The snake made it´s way towards Cloud, hissing menacingly along the way.  
Tifa and Aeris both saw this and tried even harder to subdue their enemies, but they weren´t succeeding at all!  
The snake moved in close to Cloud and once again loomed over him.

"Damn...! I can´t even move a finger!" Cloud wisphered.

He tried to summon a spell, but found that he couldn´t concentrate at all!  
(It looks pretty hopeless...) Cloud thought grimly.  
The snake hissed and backed a little. Then nails emerged from it´s chest.  
The nails suddenly launched themselves at Cloud, they were connected to the snake by cables.  
The nail whips struck Cloud with tremendous force, throwing him to ground.  
Cloud let out several ear-splitting screams as the nail whips continued to strike him.

"CLOUD!" Tifa screamed, horror spreading through her body.

"Cloud! Hang on!" Aeris screamed and delivered another blow to the monster´s head she was fighting, making it stagger back a step.

It resumed it´s attack in a second though.

Pain. Pain was all Cloud could feel. Indescribable pain. The effects from the powder put on him earlier, paled in comparison to the nail whips attacks. Cloud couldn´t even think. All he could do was scream.

"CLOUD!"

"CLOUD! HOLD ON!"

"SPIKE!"

The members of AVALANCHE were trying with all their might to beat down the monsters and save their leader.

But it was hopeless.  
Cloud´s clothes were ripped and blood flew freely around him.

"CLOOUUUUUDDDD!" Tifa screamed, tears running freely down her cheeks.

Cloud managed to formulate one single thought. (Help...) Then the pain returned full scale.

Suddenly, a white light flared in his mind and the pain mercyfully drained from his body.

* * *

Cloud took several relieved deep breaths. Then he looked up. He was standing on all fours in some place he didn´t recognise at all. It was like an endless void, filled with nothing but mist.  
Then, someone appeared before him. Cloud squinted his eyes, but he still couldn´t make out any details about  
the man due to the fog. A black silouette was all Cloud could see. He concentrated on studying the man´s shape.  
He had a huge sword on his shoulder and spiky hair that traveled down his back.  
Cloud couldn´t make out any details about the man, just that he seemed...almost...familliar?  
The man suddenly chuckled! 

"You´ve done well, Cloud! I´ll take it from here!" The man said.

His voice echoed throughout the area they were in.  
Cloud didn´t understand. Then his vision blurred, and he slumped down on the ground.

* * *

"_What?_" The snake roared. 

Everyone stopped fighting and stared wide eyed at their leader.  
Cloud was standing on all fours, his head hanging down, holding one of the nail whips firmly in his right hand.  
He didn´t look up, nor did he flinch when the snake tried to pull part of it´s weapon back.  
The snake hissed angrily and flung another of his weapons at the blonde.  
Cloud moved to the side with such speed that the nail whip missed!  
He caught it with his other hand, now sitting on his knees and holding the two nail whips firmly.

"_You...what are you?_" The snake demanded.

Cloud frowned, then he let go of the nail whips. The snake immediately pulled them inside his body, staring at  
the young man in surprise.  
Cloud put down his hands on the ground. Then, a strong gust of wind erupted from his body!  
The wind caught Tifa´s hair and lifted it from her back. She stared at Cloud in wonder, surprise, and a little bit of fear.  
Cloud suddenly screamed, making everyone back a little bit.  
Then, something that nobody had predicted happened.  
Cloud´s hair grew longer, trailing down his back. Then it spiked itself.  
Cloud´s muscles grew slightly less refined and he started growling, his voice sounded slightly different than usuall.  
Cloud´s hair then changed from blonde, to coal black.  
The wind died down, and so did the young man´s growls.  
Cid gaped, his cigarette dropped to the ground. The rest of AVALANCHE went through similar reactions.  
The young man slowly got to his feet, not turning around immediately. His wounds had been reduced to mere bruises.

"_Damn you Strife! What is this?_" The snake hissed.

The young man surprised everyone when he suddenly started chuckling!

"Sorry! Strife´s not here at the moment! Please leave a message and try again later!" The man said with humor in his voice.

Everyone was getting worried now.

"What the hell...? That´s not Cloud!" Barret said.

"Damn straight! Spike doesn´t look, or _talk _that way!" Cid exclaimed.

The black haired man slowly turned around, revealing his face to everyone.

"Cloud did his best, and now it´s my turn!" The man said, a cocky grin plastered on his face.

Aeris blinked once, twice, then she gasped.

"No! This can´t be!" Aeris exclaimed.

The man looked at her, his grin growing into a full-fledged smile.

"Sorry, Aeris! We´ll have to catch up on the reunion stuff later, ´cause I´ve got something to do first!" The man said.

In a swift movement, the Ultima Weapon was in his hand. He weighed the weapon in his hand while

studying it. (This is about the sharpest thing I´ve ever seen! No wonder, he got it from Ultima Weapon. Henche it´s name.) He made a few experimental slashes and thrusts before facing the snake. (The sword´s got pretty good balance as well.)  
He thought. The man grinned at the snake cockily.

"...like taking out the TRASH!" The man exclaimed, finishing his earlier sentence.

"He...moves exactly like Cloud!" Vincent wisphered.

"What´s going on here?" Tifa wondered, too stunned to know what she was feeling.

Aeris just stared.  
The black haired man put the Ultima Weapon on his shoulder and grinned.

"And? What are you waiting for? Christmas?" The man taunted.

The snake hissed angrily and thrashed it´s tail.

"_DIIIIEEEE!_" The snake growled.

It released the nail whips again.  
The black haired man grinned, then he raised his sword and charged the snake head on!  
The second before the nail whips were going to hit him, he sidestepped and brought his sword down,  
severing the cables that held the weapons tied to it´s owner.  
The snake hollered in pain and pulled the bloddy stumps inside of his body.  
It stared at the charging man with hatred in it´s eyes. The man jumped into the air and brought  
his sword down on the snake´s head for the final blow. But instead of cleaving the monster´s head in two,  
the Ultima Weapon simply bounched off him! The man landed before the snake, looked questionally  
at the weapon in his hand, then back at the snake.  
Electricity was coursing around the snake now, he noticed. The creature´s tail had also disappeared.  
The man made a powerful slash, only to have his weapon bounche back at him yet again. He tried again and  
again, with no success.

"What´s going on here? Who IS that guy? And why can´t he get any closer?" Yuffie asked herself.

Vincent shrugged.

"That´s what we´re all wondering, Yuffie." Vincent said.

"_Ha ha ha ha ha ha! It´s no use! You can´t come in range of me!_" The snake laughed.

The man´s face was a mask of determination.

"Mind telling me why?" The man asked, his voice stone cold.

The snake laughed again, obviously pleased with itself.

"_It´s my tail! I can spin my tail around so fast that it creates an impenetrateable barrier around my body!  
__You can´t touch me!_" The snake hissed.

The black haired man pondered this for a moment, then he grinned again. He lowered his sword and bowed his  
head. The snake lifted it´s arms and shrieked, deciding it was time to end the fight.  
The black haired man focused his eyes on the snake. Soon, he could see something whizzling past the  
snake over and over again. (I´ve got to time this right. I´m only going to get one chance to strike him down.)  
The man thought. He gripped his sword with both hands and moved into a ready stance. The snake  
prepared itself, then it lunged at the young man, bared it´s huge fangs and dove in for the kill.

"NO!" Aeris screamed, tears running down her cheeks.

Everyone stared at the young black haired man. They were all worried that he wasn´t going to make it.  
A cloud of dust erupted from the two combatants, hiding them from the other´s view.  
Everyone waited with every muscle tense. Then, a loud shriek broke the silence and made everyone gasp.  
The smoke disappeared, and the victor was revealed.  
The snake was lying on the ground, it´s head lay about a meter from the rest of it´s body.  
The black haired man stood behind the snake´s fallen body in a stance that showed that he had just  
delivered a devastating swipe.  
All of the monsters that the snake had summonded were immediately reduced to ash as their master died.

"Interesting...he actually managed to time it right." Vincent said.

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.

"There are very few snakes in this world that can attack and defend at the same time.  
This snake is no exception. In order to get close to him the snake had to stop spinning  
it´s tail since it uses it´s whole body to move. Even though the snake moved with the  
speed of light, he managed to time it right." Vincent explained.

Nanaki agreed with Vincent in his mind. He had seen it too.  
The man slid the Ultima Weapon back into it´s scabbard and turned to the members  
of AVALANCHE. The man eyed the people before him, one at a time.  
His sea blue eyes stopped on a certain brunette. He slowly grinned.  
Aeris stared at the man before her, then tears started running down her cheeks.

"I can´t believe it..." She wisphered. "It´s really him..."

Nanaki managed to snap out of the trance he was in long enough to turn to her.

"What do you mean, Aeris?" Nanaki wondered.

But Aeris didn´t answer, instead she stared at the young man before her.  
The black haired man smiled at Aeris.

"Hey beautiful. Remember me?" The man said, his voice gentle and loving.

Aeris nodded, tears running down her cheeks. She smiled, pure happiness filled her being as she looked at the  
man before her. Tifa eyed her with a questioning look. A sudden flashback reminded her of what happened earlier.

"Cloud! Where´s Cloud?" Tifa demanded.

The young man before them looked at her with surprise written all over his face. Then he relaxed.

"...Tifa, was it? Tifa...Lockheart?" The man said slowly, as if he was rememberingan eventfrom a long time ago.

Tifa didn´t budge.

"Where is he? Where´s Cloud?" Tifa demanded again.

"That´s something I would like to know too!" Barret barked.

Aeris took a few steps towards the man, tears of happiness running down her cheeks.

"Is it really you?" Aeris asked, her voice trembled.

The young man´s facial expression softened and he smiled.

"Of course it´s me...honeybuns." The man said.

This made Aeris laugh with joy.

"I knew it was you...Zack." Aeris said.

"What the hell? Zack? Hey! That´s the guy who was with Cloud in SOLDIER! Wasn´t it?" Cid said.

Tifa shook her head.

"No...no it can´t be! You´re dead!" Tifa exclaimed.

Zack didn´t say anything. He just looked at her.

"No...this is too crazy!" Tifa wisphered.

Aeris´ happy expression now faded somewhat.

"Zack...where IS Cloud?" Aeris asked.

Her voice was gentle but firm. Questions started filling her mind.  
Zack put his hand on his chest.

"He´s right...Arrgh!" Zack suddenly grabbed his head and screamed in pain.

He dropped to one knee and seemed to be struggling.

"Cloud! Calm down! It´s me! Zack! Don´t you remember me? Uunnngg! Cloud don´t be so violent!" Zack yelled.

"What´s going on? Is Zack talking to himself?" Aeris wondered.

She was getting seriously worried, about Zack and Cloud. Zack continued to yell in pain.

"Cloud! It´s me, Zack! Your old buddy! Calm...DOWN! Arrrgh! S, seems you´re not going to listen to me!  
Alright then! You win! I´ll go!" Zack struggled.

He looked at Aeris.

"Untill...untill next time! B, bye!" Zack said.

Suddenly, his whole body froze. He slumped forward a second later.  
His muscles shrunk and became more refined. His hair shortened and changed from coal black to blonde.  
By the time everyone had reached him, Zack was nowhere to be seen.  
In his place, lay someone very familliar to them.  
Tifa kneeled and turned the young man around. She gasped.  
The man lying before her, was Cloud! He had regained the wounds he had before.  
Wich, Aeris found rather strange, since Zack, or whoever it was, didn´t have any wounds.

"The hell...? Spike´s back!" Cid said, confused.

"But...what happened to Zack?" Aeris wondered.

She was confused as well.  
Then, Cloud twitched. Everyone´s attention´s became focused on him.  
Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He saw a blur of white, black, and brown above him.  
His eyes slowly regained their focus and recognision filled his mind.

"T...i...f...a?" Cloud wisphered weakly.

Tifa smiled broadly and hugged him, rabbling on and on about how worried she was and many other things.  
Cloud didn´t hear much of it, however. His mind was set on other things.  
Cloud sat up quickly, wich he regretted a second later. He gasped in pain and fell back down.

"Easy, Cloud. You´ve had a rough day." Yuffie said.

Cloud frowned deeply. He glanced up at Tifa.

"Tifa? What...what happened?" Cloud asked.

Tifa´s facial expression changed from a happy one, to a thoughtfull one.

"I´m not sure...it was all so strange. We all thought that you were a goner, and then you suddenly regained your  
strenght and caught two of the monster´s whips!" Tifa said.

Cloud´s eyes widened.

"What? I did that?" Cloud couldn´t believe it.

He had no memory whatsoever of doing something like that.

"Yeah, you did! But you released both of them afterwards. Then...then...you...you..." Tifa had trouble completing the sentence.

"...Transformed."

Everyone turned to the one who had spoken. Vincent looked down at Cloud with the usuall emotion-less expression.  
His crimson eyes bore through the young man as he set them on him.  
Cloud shrugged slightly and sat up, slowly this time. Aeris kneeled beside Cloud and put her hands together.  
One of the Materia orbs in the Princess Guard glowed and Cloud was enveloped in a purple light. When the light faded, Cloud looked reasonably better. He had stopped bleeding and all the wounds had disappeared, except for the more major ones, wich had been reduced to mere scratches. Cloud stood up, but his legs wouldn´t support his weight. Tifa caught him as he fell forward, she put his left arm around her shoulders and helped him to stand once again. Cloud mumbled a faint "thanks Tif" and looked at his friends.

"I don´t know what to make of this. Not by a longshot. But listen. Whatever happened here...god, can´t the world stop spinning...!" Cloud´s last words fell into muttering.

Tifa gave him a supportive smile and turned to the rest of the group.

"Let´s discuss this tomorrow. Too much has happened to all of us today, too much to make any sense of.  
At least that´s how I feel." Tifa said.

The members of AVALANCHE nodded in agreement.  
Cloud gave Tifa a grateful smile.  
The members of AVALANCHE all agreed to meet at that same spot the next day.  
Everyone went into the Highwind to spend the night there. Except Cloud and Tifa, who went into Costa Del Sol to get some sleep in the villa.

As the sun set on the horizon, the wheels of destiny started turning.

* * *

Here´s a slight remake of the first chapter. Thanks to the user who told me about the things that were wrong in the fic.  
Well, that should do it! Hope you´re all pleased! See you at chapter 2 and 3! 


	2. Dreams and monsters

Chapter 2: Dreams and monsters

Cloud tossed and turned in his sleep. His brows furrowed and he clenched and unclenched his fists. A struggle was taking place in his mind. Cloud tossed himself back and forth before lying completely still. His mind had settled.

"Dream"

(W, what the?)

Cloud blinked. He was standing on a white plattform. A lake lay below the plattform. His attention was directed to a figure before him. A young woman was kneeling before him with her hands clapsed together. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be praying. Cloud´sright eye twitched, he knew the woman before him.

"Aeris?" Cloud thought out loud.

Then it hit him. He had been here before. This had happened a long time ago.

The young woman before him raised her head and smiled. Cloud´s left eye twitched again at this. Suddenly, his Buster Sword was in his hands. His legs moved, taking him close to Aeris. Cloud blinked. (What the fuck am I doing?) Was all he could think. He watched his own arms lift the Buster Sword above his head. His eyes widened in horror.

(M, my body won´t move! It´s as if something else is controling me! No, no, no! I can´t do this! Stop!) Cloud thought. He desperately tried to move away, but his body wouldn´t listen. His hands clenched the sword handle hard and pulled the sword even further back. Cloud closed his eyes. (Not this! Not again!) He thought.  
Then, his arms brought the Buster Sword down. Cloud could only watch as his sword made it´s way towards the brown haired woman. Suddenly, a sharp light flared in his mind.  
(WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, MAN? CUT IT OUT CLOUD!)  
Strong hands suddenly grabbed his own and held them tightly.  
Cloud´s eyes were opened wide and he was panting hard. The Buster Sword was positioned in an almost horizontal posture. The sword´s sharp edge was only inches from the woman´s forehead. No hands were holding his own. He quickly backed away, shaking his head in disbelief. Beads of sweat rolled down his temples. Aeris smiled at him, then she looked up. Cloud did as well. His eyes widened again. A black silouette crashed down from above with a thin long sword. Cloud knew this man. Oh yes, he knew the green eyed, silver haired devil quite well. Sephiroth.  
The second before Sephiroth´s sword reached Aeris, his vision blurred and everything turned black.

"End dream"

Cloud bolted up into a sitting position. He was panting heavily and his eyes were wide open. He was soaked in sweat.

"What the ...flying fuck...was that?" Cloud wisphered.

His chest heaved up and down. The person in the other bed stirred for a second before sitting up as well. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to get rid of some of the sleepyness.

"Cloud? What´s the matter?"

Cloud shook his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked at the young woman with a somewhat calm look.

"Nothing Tifa...nothing at all." Cloud said.

He laid down again and rolled over. Tifa frowned. She knew him well enough to tell that he was lying.

"Cloud, that´s not true and you know it. Now are you going to tell me what´s going on, or am I going to have to force it out of you?" Tifa said.

Cloud sighed in defeat. He then frowned. (I´m not even sure what to tell her. I had a bad dream, so what? I´ve had these kind of dreams before and I got over them. But...this one was different somehow. It was as if...as if it wanted to tell me something...) Cloud thought. He turned to Tifa after some more thinking.

"I had a bad dream, that´s all." Cloud said flatly.

Tifa raised an eyebrow at this but remained quiet. Cloud once again rolled over and tried to sleep.

Tifa wasn´t convinced however. (Cloud´s hiding something, and I´m going to find out what. But I´ll save that for tomorrow...) Tifa thought. She yawned and laid down as well. Sleep catched her in a minute or two.  
Cloud wasn´t that lucky. The dream he had was bothering him to his very core.  
(Back then, when I saw Aeris on that altar, my mind blurred. My body moved by it´s own will. It wasn´t untill I nearly killed Aeris, that I understood what I was doing and was able to think for myself again. Nightmares of that event has plagued me a long time after. But I eventually got over them as Aeris got revived. But this time...something was different. This time, I could think. For a second, I could hear someone in my head, screaming at me to stop at the top of his lungs. And...I could almost swear that I felt someone grab my hands this time. It was as if someone...interwiened and stopped me...) Cloud thought.  
He closed his eyes.

"Just what the hell is going on with me?" Cloud wisphered to himself.

He closed his eyes and did his best to relax. It took 2 hours for him to fall asleep again.  
Even then he slept uncomfortably.

The next morning, Cloud woke up early. He sat up slowly and yawned. Cloud shook his head in an effort to clear it from it´s current sleepyness. He looked at the other bed and found it empty.  
(Tifa must already be up.) Cloud thought. He stood up and stretched before he started to get dressed.  
Tifa was humming happily to herself as she heard heavy footsteps. She turned and saw Cloud coming down the stairs, he looked like he always did in the mornings. Ruffled hair, and foggy eyes. Tifa smiled at him as he sat down.

"Good morning Cloud." She said.

"Mrnin..." Came cloud´s groggy reply.

He let out a small yawn, then he shook his head and looked out the window. Tifa shook her head at him while smiling.  
After a few minutes, Tifa put down a plate with stacks of food on it before Cloud.

"Eat up. We´re going to meet the others soon, remember?" Tifa said.

Cloud´s face darkened. Vague flashbacks flashed in his mind. Cloud sighed and shook his head. (No use in worrying about it. At least not now.) Cloud thought. He quickly devoured the food. After he finished, he quickly went upstairs and changed into his normal attire.  
Tifa had gotten ready before Cloud so she patiently waited for her childhood friend to finish up. Cloud came down the stairs 5 minutes later, fully dressed and ready to go.

"Let´s go." Cloud said flatly.

Tifa nodded. They walked out of the villa and continued out of Costa Del Sol.  
The two childhood friends could see the big Highwind a distance away. Cloud and Tifa exchanged  
no words during the short walk from Costa Del Sol to the Highwind. They were both thinking the same thing.

30 minutes later, Cloud was standing in the Highwind´s conference room.  
The rest of AVALANCHE was seated at the long table. They were all waiting for the blonde man to speak.

Cloud turned to his friends and nodded.

"Yesterday, I was attacked by a strange man. He had managed to sprinkle some sort of powder on me that made me completely immobile. He then transformed into a big snake-like monster and tried to devour me. Luckily, Vincent showed up just in time." Cloud began.

Nanaki nodded.

"I asked Vincent to go into Costa Del Sol to purchase some new Materia." Nanaki said.

Cid fimped his cigarette and straightened his goggles.

"He told me to take off. Somethin´ about havin´ somethin´ to straighten out. I never sorted that out. What the hell did you mean, Vince?" Cid said.

Vincent nodded and finally took part in the conversation.

"I was planning on spending the night at the Inn before heading out to the mountains. I wanted to take some ore samples from the old mine there. I heard that Materia was hidden in it." Vincent explained.

Yuffie bent closer to Vincent. Now she was interested.  
Cid snorted at this.

"Oh yeah? Then why didn´t you just friggin´ tell me about it? That would have spared me a hell of a lot of confusion!"  
Cid almost yelled.

Vincent simply remained quiet. Cid gave another snort but didn´t push the matter.  
Cloud sighed. Everyone seemed to be so out of shape.  
Then again, he was no exception.  
Suddenly, the whole room shook and threw everyone out of their chairs!  
Cloud fell to the floor but he flipped himself up onto his feet again in a  
second! Everyone else shakily stood up as well. Another tremor shook  
the room and threatened to throw it's inhabitants off their feet again!  
Barret swore as he barely kept his balance.

"What the HELL's going on here?" Barret yelled.

Just then, one of the room´s walls exploded! Unfortunately, Cloud was the one standing beside that wall.  
The blonde man was thrown forward by the sheer force of the explosion, but with superb skill, he  
managed to somersault himself back onto his feet. Cloud heard Cid let out a string of curses as he looked  
at the former wall. A big hole was all that remained of it. A strong gust of wind blew through the hole and  
almost took the people in the room with it. Cloud threw one look out the hole and his eyes widened.  
A large black shadow swept past the hole. And if he wasn´t sorely mistaken, Cloud could have sworn that it  
looked almost like a big dragon! Cloud turned and started running towards the now-open doors.

"I´m going to the upper deck! You guys take cover on the Command Bridge! Now!" Cloud yelled.

Cloud ran out of the room and quickly made his way up the stairs that led to the upper deck.  
The members of AVALANCHE didn´t have to be told twice. They all scrambled to follow their leader´s  
order. Everyone bolted out of the room and ran towards the Command Bridge. Everyone, except one.  
Tifa turned and ran up the stairs to the right of the Conference Room. She was determined to face this,  
whatever it was, _together_ with Cloud!

Cloud emerged on the upper deck and a small gust of wind hit him in the face. The force of it would  
have sent a normal person reeling backwards, but he was no normal person by far. The force of the small  
but powerful, and also unnatural wind paled in comparison to the sight before him.  
Cloud stared and his mouth opened midway. He slowly walked towards the edge of the outside deck while  
never taking his eyes off the sight before him.  
The door behind him then opened and Tifa jumped through it. She ran up to Cloud and looked into his face.

"What´s going on, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Cloud didn´t answer. He didn´t need to. Tifa wondered why he wouldn´t answer her and slowly directed her  
gaze into the same direction as he was staring in. Her rose-red eyes widened in shock and her mouth hung  
open.

Just then, the AVALANCHE members all ran up to the centre of the Command Bridge.

"What the FUCK'S going on´?" Cid barked at the workers.

The workers had all stopped controlling the levers and were all staring out the huge window before them.

"What the HELL are you lazy, good-for-nothing´s-" Cid began saying, but he was interrupted.

Barret shook his head in disbelief at the sight before him.

"Hey, Cid! We ain´t got no time fo´ that! Man, you´ve GOTTA look out the window!" Barret exclaimed.

"Why the hell do I- ... Oh, fuck...!"

Cid started a new string of curses while moving his head towards the window at the same time.  
The cigarette fell from his mouth as he gaped in pure shock at the sight before him.

Hovering and flying around the Highwind, was a huge horde of big dragons! They were all mutated in  
some way and their skin was coal-black. They roared occaisonally as they circled around the ship.

Cloud finally managed to close his mouth and get his brain working again.

"What the heck is going on here?" Cloud exclaimed.

Tifa managed to snap out of her own state of shock as well at this.

"I don´t know! But it´s probably NOT going to be anything good!" Tifa yelled.

Tifa yelled for one simple reason. Cloud wouldn´t have heard her if she didn´t. Strong winds were blowing  
around the ship, plus the dragons´ roaring were drowning out every other sound.  
As Cloud stared at the horde of monsters, a small light flickered in his mind. He blinked and shook his head  
in mild confusion. The light disappeared almost faster than it came. Cloud shook his head again.  
Now wasn´t the time to be pondering on this!  
Cloud´s right eye twitched as he noticed that the dragon´s had all turned towards the ship.  
They all opened their mouths and gathered energy.  
Tifa gasped and took a step back. Cloud growled and put his hand on the handle of the Ultima Weapon.  
Just then, his PHS rang. Cloud picked it up and answered it.

"What?" Cloud almost barked.

The person on the other end of the line swallowed and said:

"I think you already know this Spike but... If we don´t do something soon, then we´re all gonna be in some  
SERIOUS shit!"

Cloud would have snorted if they weren´t in the situation they were in.

"No shit, Cid! NO. SHIT!" Cloud yelled with irony-drenched words.

Cloud flipped his PHS closed and slid it into his pocket. His right arm returned to the handle of the  
Ultima Weapon. His fingers closed around it. Tifa moved closer to him while raising her fists.

"Cloud! What do we do?" Tifa asked.

Cloud frowned.

"I don´t know, Tifa! I don´t know!" Cloud stated.

The leader and members of AVALANCHE all racked their brains in search of a solution.  
They knew that they had to do something quick, or be roasted like ducks in an oven.

Just then, the dragons opened their mouths wider than before and the energy they had gathered  
glowed brightly.

Cloud gripped the sword-handle tightly, then he pulled the Ultima Weapon out of it´s scabbard in one,  
swift move.

* * *

Ah! Finally got Chapter 2 out! Hope I didn´t keep you waiting too long! I hope you liked it!  
Well then, time for me to get on with Chapter 3! See ya then! 


End file.
